Virtual Machines, also commonly referred to as Virtual Private Servers (VPS), VM’s and sometimes containers are used for general purpose remote computing. A Virtual Machine is a shared slice of a larger machine (commonly named the hypervisor.) A VM allows users to run anything they want and allows a whole lot more capability than a game server.
VDS’s (Virtual Dedicated Servers) are the same concept as a VPS, however VDS’s have dedicated resources given to the user. VPS’s are over allocated on the hypervisor usually. If a hypervisor machine has 128 GB of RAM, chances are there are enough VMs to take up 192GB of RAM, meaning in the unlikely event all the VMs on the hypervisor need to use all their allocated RAM, the hypervisor would run out of memory causing performance loss in the VM.
VDS’s do not have this happen. If a hypervisor server is hosting VDS’s there will only be enough servers allocated to use the same amount of RAM, disk space & CPU time that the server can provide.
VM’s allow you to run anything you’d like ranging from:
Have you ever had the issue where you wanted to run a game server for your friends but didn’t want to port forward your router, or couldn’t? A Virtual Machine solves that as they are automatically connected to the public internet allowing incoming connections to go through, instead of being cut off.
There are many providers to choose from however we suggest CivilHost to be your VM provider. CivilHost provides low cost VMs with premium hardware, check out this table below comparing CivilHost to other mainstream providers:
Overall a Virtual Machine can run anything you put on it, assuming it has the resources to do so. You can install any operating system the hosting company provides to it and use it for your own purposes.